ACC Bowl Picture: the Quest for 11 teams
Week 13 ended in the ACC and the bowl picture is one-step closer to being finalized. As this blog has been projecting for the past few weeks, the ACC is still on track to place 11 teams in post season play.
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With a match-up between two teams with 5-wins, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, the ACC was guaranteed to get at least one more school to bowl eligibility. Unfortunately for Orange fans, the Panthers hung-on to win in at the dome 17-16 and punch their ticket to their bowl game.
North Carolina faced Old Dominion in their first year as an FBS team, and it went exactly as expected with an 80-20 victory for UNC.
Wake The Forest™ needed wins against Duke and Vandy to secure bowl eligibility, and for much of the first half it looked like the Deacons were going to exorcise the Blue Devils. Unfortunately, Duke would persevere and defeat Wake thereby ending their chance at getting to 6 wins.
Bowl Eligible:
- Florida State (10-0)
- Clemson (9-1)
- Duke (8-2)
- Miami (7-3)
- Virginia Tech (7-4)
- Georgia Tech (6-4)
- Maryland (6-4)
- Boston College (6-4)
- North Carolina (6-5)
- Pittsburgh (6-5)
One-win away:
- Syracuse (5-5)
Eliminated:
- Wake Forest (4-7)
- North Carolina St. (3-7)
- Virginia (2-8)
Syracuse – The Orange (5-6) still have one shot left at getting bowl eligible on Saturday against Boston College (7-4).
A win for Syracuse will help the ACC be in position to place 11 teams in bowls, which is not only a record for the ACC, and a chance to get more $1-2M more for the conference, but would make a huge statement for the ACC’s place among the “Big Four”.
If I’m John Swofford, I would do anything within my powers to make sure that the Orange win and go bowling.
Bowl Projections:
- BCS Title Game (Pasadena, CA) – Florida State
- Discover Orange Bowl (Miami, FL) – Clemson
- Chick-Fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, GA) – Duke
- Russell Athletic Bowl (Orlando, FL) – Miami
- Hyundai Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX) – Virginia Tech
- Belk Bowl (Charlotte, NC) – North Carolina
- Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN) – Georgia Tech
- AdvoCare V100 Bowl (Shreveport, LA) – Boston College
- Military Bowl (Annapolis, MD) – Maryland
- BBVA Compass Bowl (Birmingham, AL) – Pittsburgh (from American)
- Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl (Detroit, MI) – Syracuse (from B1G)
Pinstripe Bowl (New York, NY) – Notre Dame (from Big XII)
Russell Athletic Bowl (Orlando, FL) – Louisville (American Athletic Conf.)
Pinstripe Bowl (New York, NY) – Notre Dame (from Big XII)
The Confidential 
I would love to see a Louisville & Miami matchup. The Russell Ath Bowl gets first pick of any American team followed by the Belk, they dont have to go in order.
What can Swofford do to ensure a Syracuse victory?
If the ACC truly wants to be one of the top-4 conferences, they need to take a page out of the WWE’s playbook. Determine the outcome before the match begins and manipulate the game to meet that end.
I would suggest that Swofford instruct the refs to call things in SU’s favor whenever possible. Find that holding penalty that brings back a big BC run; let the PI call slide if it gives SU an advantage.
Georgia Tech managed to go an entire game against Syracuse without getting a single penalty…perhaps it’s SU’s turn to experience a game with no flags.
And if all else fails, tell the refs to go “Toledo” when calling PATs.
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